Filing cabinet structure



Dec. i3, 1955 H. w. REGENHARDT FILING CABINET STRUCTURE Filed OGt. 29, 1952 United States Patent 2,726,916 FILING CABINET 4sTrnJcrU'RE Hans W. Regenhardt, Wooster, Ohio, assigner to liecord Files, Inc., Wooster, Ohio, a corporation of lno Application october 29, 1952, serial No. 317,495 3 Claims. (Cl. 2112-341) This invention, which is an improvement on that of prior Patent 2,676,083 granted April 20, 1954, for File Drawer, relates to cabinets for filing, storage, transfer or the like in which synthetic resin bearings carry part or all of the weight of the drawers and their contents.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a simple, sturdy cabinet of this kind that will operate freeiy even when the drawer or drawers are heavily loaded; to that end, the invention contemplates the use in such a cabinet of a plurality of synthetic resin bearings adapted to underlie and/or support the drawers at widely spaced zones in their loci o'r paths of travel. Another object is to provide a cabinet of the kind described characterized by surface contact and sliding movement between the drawers or parts thereof and one or more stationary anti-friction bearings of synthetic resin incorporated in the cabinet itself. Another object is to provide the cabinet or the drawers or both with a plurality of moveable anti-'friction bearings of synthetic resin for supporting the rear portions of the drawers, as, for example, by means of tracks and riders. A general object is to take advantage in a filing cabinet or the like of the much improved conditions of operation that are made possible by the use therein of synthetic resin bearings.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description and from the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective of a cabinet consisting of a single compartment and a cooperating drawer embodying the features of the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective of the compartment with the drawer removed; Y

Figure 3 is a perspective of the drawer alone; and

Figure 4 is fragmentary cross-section, on Yan enlarged scale, of the lower right-hand corner of the cabinet, the compartment and drawer being shown in their normal relation to each other.

ln Figures l and 2, the illustrated cabinet takes the form of a shell-like compartment, generally designated i, made up of a bottom portion '2, a top 'portion 3, side walls 4 and 5, and a rear end wall (notshown). Coop# erating with and adapted to close the frontend of the compartment is a drawer generally designated `6 'made up of a bottom portion 7, side walls 8 and 9, a -rearend wall 11 and a front end wall 12. Although the cabinet shown in Figure 1 consists of a single compartment and drawer, it should be considered as' representative of cabinets of the kind with which the invention hasta' do, including multiple compartment cabinet'srin which v'the conipartments are in stacked relation, s'ideeby-sid'e relation, or both.

In the cabinet illustrated in the drawings, drawer 6 is shown as cut away in conventional fashion along its sides between rear end wall 11 and front end wal1v`12. Along 'its lower longitudinally extending edges, it is reinforced b`y two longitudinally extending angle piees one of which, generally designated 13, appears YFigire 3 in rice full lines and the other of which, generally designated 14, appears in dotted lines. Of the two klangle pieces, the latter appears also in cross-section in Figure 4, wherein its vertically and horizontally extending portions are desgnated 14a and 14]), respectively. Clearances are left between the angle pieces and the walls of the cabinet substantially as indicated in Figure 4. A

At the extreme rear and on each of the two opposite sides of drawer 6 an upright 15 is rigidly attached to the inside of the drawer, such uprights being formed and located as illustrated in Figure 3. Each of the uprights 15 carries near its upper lend a horizontally extending outwardly directed pintle 16 which is preferably headed over or otherwise enlarged at its outer end 16a. The enlarged outer end 16a serves as a retainer for a bearing 17 of nylon or a similar synthetic resin that is mounted loosely on the shank of the pintle. The bearings 17 can be of any suitable size and shape, but in the preferred embodiment of the invention each takes the general form of a shallow block measuring about 3%" X 3%; X 1A (the latter dimension being along the axis of the pintle) and in general answering to the description of a rectangular parallelopiped modified to the extent of incorporating or introducing a central bore (not shown) to enable it to receive the shank of pintle 16.

Toward the top and on the inside of compartment 1 are two ways 18, one on each side thereof, Vwhich accommodate bearings 17. The manner in which bearings 17 coact with ways 18 is indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1. Such ways preferably take the form of channels af- Xed to the side walls of the compartment. The bases of the channels are in contact with the side walls of the compartment with their axes so oriented that upper and lower flanges 318g and 1812 of the channels can serve as tracks for bearings 17, limiting the latter to movement lengthwise of the compartment as a whole.

lf made of sheet metal, as will ordinarily be the case, each of the four flanges will be doubled back on itself in the interests of rigidity, thus being of double thickness. This is especially desirable in the case of the two lower tracks 186. In view of the fact that bearings 17 ride largely on lower tracks 18h, each has to support a substantial part of the weight of the drawer and its contents. The load so imposed on lower tracks 18b is transmitted by ways 18 to the side walls of the compartment and thence to the framework of the cabinet.

Compartment 1 is made up, along with the usual outer shell, of a skeletal framework consisting of two generally rectangular frame members 21, one at each end of the compartment. There may, if desired, be more than two, but two are ordinarily enough. Each preferably takes the form of a suitably shaped strip-like element extending as suggested in Figures Vl and 4 around the inside of the'shell, the two ends meeting in butt joint (not shown) at the base of the compartment. Overlying the bottom reach of frame member 21 and extending from side to side of the compartment is a reinforcing strip 22 of similar cross-section. The latter thus acts to interconnect the upright portion of frame member 21 on the near side of the compartment and the corresponding upright portion of frame member 21 on the far side of the compartment.

Reinforcing strip 22 is fastened in any suitable way to frame member 21, as are also the top, bottom and side walls of the compartment.

Before fastening it in place, pockets or openings are punched or otherwise formed in the reinforcing strip 22, near the two opposite ends thereof, there being one such opening at each end of the reinforcing strip. The opening 23 at the far end of reinforcing strip 22 vas seen in Figure 2 is shown to best advantage in Figure 4, which, in the interests of clarity, somewhat exaggerat'es the recross-section may fail to show any significant evidence of its ared contour, nevertheless when viewed in vertical cross-section it will ordinarily appear to be trapezoidal.

If, as usually will be the case, opening 23 as seen in plan is oblong or elliptical rather than square, triauglar or Y round, its long axis (which in a typical case may be twice for reasons that will appear hereinafter.

Located in opening 23 is a correspondingly shaped mass of nylon or a similar synthetic resin, such being shown and designated 24 in Figure 4. lt takes the general form of a shallow block with flat upper and lower faces. Preferably, however, it is more or less pyramidal in shape, there being a slight upward taper which gives block 24, like opening 23, a trapezoidal appearance when seen in vertical cross-section. In plan or horizontal cross-section, block 24 corresponds in shape and size to but is slightly smaller than opening 23, just enough clearance being left between them to permit block 24 to fit without undue play in opening 23. It is held in place by engagement of its upwardly tapering side walls with the downwardly haring side walls of opening 23.

The height of block 24 exceeds the height of reinforcing strip 22 by a minor fraction of an inch, this to the end that it will project upward from the latter by a small but appreciable amount. For the purposes of invention, a difference in height of about /l is ample. In a typical case, as, for'example, one in which reinforcing strip 22 has a transverse width of 1" and a thickness of 1/a, opening 23 may measure approximatelyY 3%" in length and /s in width; in such circumstances, block 24 may measure 3A6 in height. Where these or similar relationships obtain, block 24 can be inserted in position in the reinforcing strip 22 before the latter is fixed to` frame member 21 and thereafter will be held firmly in place by reinforcing strip 22, projecting upwardY from it in the manner indicated.

A similar block 25 is inserted in reinforcing strip 22 at the near end thereof, so that there is at each of the two ends of reinforcing strip 22 a synthetic resin insert with a raised bearing surface.

Referring again to Figure 4, it will be noted that the raised bearing surface on block 24 makes area contact, as opposed to line contact, with horizontally extending portion 14b of angle piece 14. The latter is rigidly at- Vtached to drawer 6, which is moveable into and out of compartment 1. Horizontally extending portion 14]: of angle piece 14 therefore slides after the fashion of a runner upon block 24. At the opposite end of reinforcing strip 22, the horizontally extending portion of angle piece 13 likewise makes area contact with block 25.

As a result of this sliding contact between drawer 6 and blocks 24 and 25, that part of the weight of drawer 6 and its contents which is not carried at the rear of the drawer by bearings 17 and ways 1S is carried at the forward end of compartment 1 by blocks 24 and 25. lt will be noted from Figure 4 Ythat this is accomplished without the loss of any significant Vamount of space between the bottom of drawer 6 and the top of reinforcing strip 22.

With this arrangement, it is possible to pull or push the drawer out of or into closed position with very little .effort and with no squeaking, sticking or binding of the,

drawer. Friction at the forward end'of the compartment is minimized by the inherent anti-friction characteristics of nylon blocks 24 and 25. Friction at the rear end of the drawer is held to a minimum by the presence of nylon blocks 17 on uprights 15. Although the contact in both cases is over a wide area as compared with the more limited type of contact characterizing an anti-friction bearing of the ball or roller type, there is no recurring maintenance problem such as that presented where periodic lubrication is necessary.

- strength of 10,900 p. s. i., a shear strength of 9,600 p. s. i.,

' and a flexural strength of 14,600 p. s. i.

sary.

For the purposes of the invention, it has been found best to use Du Pont nylon of the type referred to in the trade as FM-10,00l, which is said to have a tensile As an alternative, it is possible to use nylon of the type known in the trade as FM-3,001, and corresponding values for which are 12,900 p. s. i., 8,400 p. s. i. and 9,500 p. s. i. The abrasion resistance of these materials is described as outstanding. The rate of wear is said to be greatest at the start and to decrease as the surface of the nylon glazes over, after which more intimate contact is established and the unit pressure is decreased.

Materials of this type tend to embed abrasive particles, if such happen to be present, as a result whereof the bearing surfaces that are formed maintain themselves well. Lubrication is not required, but if desired the nylon can be caused to absorb a limited amount of oil, suiiicient to provide lubrication during breaking in, by immersing the bearing in light machine oil for a period of several days before installation. Graphite-impregnated nylon may be used, if desired. However, even with nylon that has not been so treated, lubrication almost never is necesln the case of a cabinet and drawer constructed substantially as shown and provided with blocks of nylon of the type known as FM-10,00l, it has been found that the wear after 15,000 Vpulls and pushes on the drawer is only` about .003", laying a foundation for the inference that even if such an installation were to be repeatedly lsubjected to daily use, the bearings would nevertheless operate as intended for a great many years.

Bearings of the kinds shown and described may be molded in conventional ways. The desirability of providing draft between the product and the mold gives rise to a pyramidal effect of the nature of that characterizing the bearing illustrated in somewhat exaggerated fashion in Figure 4. If desired, more particularly in the case of bearings 17, the bearings may be cut from solid stock of rectangular cross-section; e. g., bar stock or the like. The same procedures can be employed if use is made of the commercially available polyamides other than those used in nylon IRM-10,001 and VlTM-3,00l and even when other synthetic resins are used instead. In eitherv case, the cabinet may be of metal or non-metal, as preferred, although the advantages that follow from the use of anti-friction bearings of synthetic resin are likely to be realized to the greatest advantage where the construction, rather than being of wood or the like, is of steel or other metal.

Although the constructions shown and described represent preferred embodiments of the invention, it is apparent that some of the same advantages ofthe invention may be realized by modifications of these constructions. Thus it is possible, for example, to dispense with uprights 15, bearings 17 and ways 18 and, instead, to provide a whole series of bearings of `synthetic resin or even two Vlong bearings of synthetic resin extending over a considerable distance lengthwise of the compartment, each in approximately the same lateral location relative to the longitudinal axis of the compartment as the bearings 24 and 25 at the forward end of the cabinet shown in the drawings. By doing so, the weight of the drawer and its contents, rather than being carried in part by ways 18, will be carried entirely by two synthetic resin bearings or two series of such bearings. Other arrangements may be employed if desired and may be expected to suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by summarization in the appended claims, al1 features of patentable novelty that reside in the invention.

What is'claimed is:

1. A cabinet for filing, storage, transfer or the like made up of one or more compartments which comprises a frame having horizontally extending portions; frame-supported walls; an element moveable into and outof retracted position within said Walls; runners on the bottom of said element; and, underlying said runners, a plurality of spaced stationary bearings each of which takes the form of an upwardly tapered block of a synthetic resin having antifriction characteristics which block is rigidly mounted in a downwardly flared opening in one of the horizontally eX- tending portions of the frame, the upper ends of said blocks being squared oi after the fashion of truncated pyramids to provide plane bearing surfaces each of which is elevated a small fraction of an inch above the horizontally extending portion of the frame into engagement with one of said runners.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,751,899 Whitfield Mar. 25, 1930 1,798,257 Hansen Mar. 3l, 1931 2,223,071 Koch Nov. '26, 1940 2,318,800 Rakow May 11, 1943 2,439,998 Zalkind Apr. 20, 1948 2,514,664 Miller July 11, 1950 2,606,091 Buchy Aug. 5, 1952 2,646,333 Abrahamson et al. July 21, 1953 2,653,852 Bissman Sept. 29, 1953 2,676,083 Regenhardt Apr. 20, 1954 

